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NederlandsUK starts fining errors in the ENS declaration from 1 October, up to £1,000
HMRC gave carriers until 30 September to fix recurring errors in the entry summary declaration (ENS) required for goods entering Great Britain. From 1 October, an error in the vehicle or trailer registration can already cost up to £1,000 in fines and delays at the border — even without intent to defraud.
Anyone hauling goods from Spain or Portugal to the United Kingdom — by ferry from Santander or Bilbao, or by road via France and the Eurotunnel — lost, on 1 October, the grace period that HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) had opened for correcting errors in the entry summary declaration, the ENS (Entry Summary Declaration, also called Safety & Security).
What the ENS is and what has changed
The ENS has been required since 31 January 2025 for all goods entering Great Britain, and it must be complete and accurate before arrival — at least 2 hours beforehand for accompanied ro-ro traffic, and 1 hour beforehand for the Eurotunnel. HMRC has identified two fields where errors recur most often: “Identity of Means of Transport crossing the Border” (the identification of the vehicle crossing the border) and “Container Number/Trailer Number” (the container or trailer registration).
Typical errors include writing generically “Truck” instead of the actual registration, entering the trailer’s registration in the tractor unit’s field (or the reverse), and failing to update the declaration when the planned vehicle is swapped at the last minute — a common situation in last-leg subcontracting.
Until 30 September, HMRC treated these errors as a correction, with no immediate consequence. From 1 October 2026, a detected error can already trigger a control action and a civil customs penalty of up to £1,000 per contravention, on top of the usual delay from an additional inspection at the border.
What to do before crossing
- Confirm the exact registration of the tractor unit and, separately, of the trailer or container, before submitting the ENS — never copy a generic value.
- If the planned vehicle changes after the declaration has been submitted, update it immediately: the declaration must reflect the actual vehicle presenting at the border.
- Respect the minimum lead times — 2 hours for accompanied ro-ro, 1 hour for the Eurotunnel — to allow time to correct any error flagged by the system before arrival.
For those who run this route regularly, it is worth reviewing now the internal process for filling in the ENS — especially at carriers that subcontract the final leg and swap vehicles at short notice.